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Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. This word "finally" ( τὸ λοιπόν is frequently used by St. Paul to introduce a practical conclusion after the doctrinal portion of his Epistles: thus it occurs again in Php_4:8, and also in 2Co_13:11; Eph_6:10; 1Th_4:1; 2Th_2:1. Some render χαίρετε "farewell;" but "rejoice" seems more suitable here. The golden thread of spiritual joy runs through this Epistle. "Rejoice in the Lord" is the oft-repeated refrain of St. Paul's solemn hymn of praise. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. "The same things:" does he refer to his oral instructions, to a previous Epistle now lost, to his exhortations to unity, or to his reiterated command "Rejoice"? The words seem most naturally to point to something in the same Epistle rather than to advice given on former occasions. It is true that Polycarp, in his letter to the Philippians (section 3), says that St. Paul wrote Epistles ( ἐπιστολάς ) to them; but there is no trace of any other Epistle; and the mere plural number is not sufficient to support the theory of other letters, the plural word being frequently used of a single letter. Bishop Lightfoot suggests the exhortation to unity in Php_2:2. But this topic does not reappear before Php_4:2. And the hypothesis of an interruption, which (as Bishop Lightfoot and others think) suddenly turned the apostle's thoughts into another channel and prevented him from explaining τὰ αὐτά (the same things) till Php_4:2, seems forced and unnecessary, notwithstanding the great authority by which it is supported. It seems more probable (Bengel and others) that St. Paul refers to the constant admonition of this Epistle, "Rejoice in the Lord." To repeat this again and again was to him not grievous (rather, with R.V., "irksome"), but safe for the Philippians. Christian joy has a close connection with safety, for it implies unswerving faith, and, more than that, the presence of Christ. Compare the oft-repeated exhortation of Psa_37:1-40., "Fret not thyself: it tends only to evil-doing" (Psa_37:8, in the Hebrew). Possibly, however, ἀσφαλές here, as in Act_22:30 and. Act_25:26, may mean "certain." The repetition is not irksome to St. Paul, while it makes his meaning and his wishes certain to the Philippians.
Php_3:2
Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. The connection is, as given in Php_3:3, Rejoice in the Lord, not in the flesh; have confidence in him, not in the ceremonies of the Jewish Law. Compare the same contrast in Gal_6:13, Gal_6:14. There is certainly something abrupt in the sudden introduction of this polemic against Judaizing, especially in writing to Philippi, where there were not many Jews. But there may have been circumstances, unknown to us, which made the warning necessary; or, as some think, the apostle may have written this under excitement caused by the violent opposition of the Jewish faction at Rome. Beware; literally, mark, observe them, to be on your guard against them. The dogs. The article must be retained in the translation. The Jews called the Gentiles "dogs" (comp. Mat_15:26, Mat_15:27; Rev_22:15), i.e. unclean, mainly because of their disregard of the distinction between clean and unclean food. St. Paul retorts the epithet: they are the dogs, who have confidence in the flesh, not in spiritual religion. Evil workers; so 2Co_11:13, where he calls them "deceitful workers." The Judaizers were active enough, like the Pharisees who "compassed sea and land to make one proselyte;" but their activity sprang from bad motives—they were evil workers, though their work was sometimes overruled for good (comp. Php_1:15-18). The concision ( κατατομή , cutting, mutilation); a contemptuous word for "circumcision'' ( περιτομή ). Compare the Jewish contemptuous use of Isbosheth, man of shame, for Eshbaal, man of Baal, etc. Their circumcision is no better than a mutilation. Observe the paronomasia, the combination of like-sounding words, which is common in St. Paul's Epistles. Winer gives many examples in sect. lxviii.
Php_3:3
For we are the circumcision. We: the apostle of the Gentiles identifies himself with the Gentiles (1Co_9:2); himself circumcised, he recognizes the great truth that they only are the true circumcision whose hearts are mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts. Which worship God in the spirit; read, with the best manuscripts, which worship by the Spirit of God. The word λατρεία , worship, is used specially of the Jewish ceremonial service (comp. Rom_9:4; Luk_2:37; Act_26:7). We Christians, St. Paul means, have not only the true circumcision, but the only true worship: the temple service prefigured the spiritual worship of the Christian Church. By the Spirit; by his assistance, inspiration: "We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us" (Rom_8:26). And rejoice in Christ Jesus; rather, glory καυχώμενοι ). "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord," through whom alone we can obtain salvation, not in any external privileges. And have no confidence in the flesh. Neither in circumcision nor in any other outward rites.
Php_3:4
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh; literally, though having myself confidence in the flesh also; that is, as well as in Christ. The apostle had both grounds of confidence: the one he renounces for the other; but no man could accuse him of despising that which he did not himself possess. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. He claims the privileges of the Jew; they are his by right, but he counts them loss for Christ.
Php_3:5
Circumcised the eighth day; literally, at circumcision eight days old. The apostle was not a proselyte, circumcised at his reception into the Jewish Church; nor an Ishmaelite, circumcised, like Ishmael, at the age of thirteen. Of the stock of Israel Neither were his parents proselytes; he was by descent an Israelite. He uses here the highest title of God's ancient people, the title which implied the inheritance of the covenant made with Jacob. Other nations were descended from Abraham and Isaac; the Israelites alone could claim Jacob for their ancestor; they only could glory in the covenant name given to him when he wrestled all night long with the angel, and proved himself a prince with God (comp. Trench, 'Synonyms of the New Testament,' sect. 39.). Of the tribe of Benjamin. His family had preserved their genealogy; he came from the tribe which gave the first king to Israel; which never swerved in its allegiance to the house of David; which, after the Captivity, united with Judah and the Levites to go up and build the house of the Lord (Ezr_1:5); the tribe of Esther and Mordecai; the tribe within whose boundary stood the holy city. A Hebrew of the Hebrews; rather, of Hebrews; omit the article. His father and mother were not only Israelites, but also they retained, though living at Tarsus, the Hebrew language and customs. St. Paul was not a Hellenist; he was brought up at Jerusalem under the great Rabban Gamaliel; he spoke Hebrew (Act_21:40), and uses the Hebrew Scriptures as well as the Septuagint translation. All the descendants of Jacob were Israelites; those were called Hebrews distinctively who adhered to the use of the sacred language (Act_6:1). As touching the Law, a Pharisee. He was by birth an Israelite, by education a Hebrew; he became by choice a Pharisee (Act_23:6); he embraced the straitest sect "as regards Law," the sect which took the strictest view of the Law of Moses.
Php_3:6
Concerning zeal, persecuting the Church. He was not only a Pharisee, but an energetic, zealous Pharisee; he carried out the principles of his sect, thinking that he did God service by persecuting those whom he counted as heretics. Touching the righteousness which is in the Law, blameless. As far as "the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees" went, the righteousness which is "in Law," which consists, that is, in the observance of formal rules; or which is "of Law" (Php_3:9), which springs, that is, from such observance, St. Paul was found blameless. "Rara sane laus et prope singularis," says Calvin, quoted by Alford; "videamus tureen quanti eam fecerit."
Php_3:7
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ; literally, but such things as used to be gains to me, those I have counted as loss for Christ's sake. He used to regard these outward privileges, one by one, as so many items of gain; now he has learned to regard them, all in the aggregate, as so much loss because of Christ. They were loss because confidence in outward things tends to keep the soul from Christ. Τοῦ γὰρ ἡλίου φανέτος , says Chrysostom, προσκαθῆσθαι τῷ λύχνῳ ζημία .
Php_3:8
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss. He holds fast the truth which he once learned; he still counts all things as loss in comparison with the one thing needful. The particles used here (see Winer, sect. liii.) correct and strengthen the assertion of the last verse, both as to time, "I count," and as to extent, "all things," not only the privileges mentioned above. For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. The preposition may be rendered "for the sake of," as in Php_3:7, or "because of." The knowledge of Christ is a blessing so surpassing and transcendent that nothing else is worthy to be called good in comparison with that one highest good. Its glory, like the rising sun, overwhelms and hides all lesser lights. My Lord. The pronoun expresses the warmth of his affection, the close personal communion between the apostle and the Savior (see Php_1:3). For whom I have suffered the loss of all things; rather, I suffered the loss of; literally, I was fined or mulcted; the aorist refers to the time of his conversion. All things ( τὰ πάντα ); all that I had in the world, my all, all things together (comp. Rom_8:32). He lost his all for Christ, for the sake of possessing Christ: with Christ God will freely give him all things ( τὰ πάντα again). And do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. Σκύβαλα (also in Ecclesiasticus 27:4); dung, or perhaps refuse, dogs' meat; comp. Mat_15:26, Mat_15:27. There the Jews were the children, the Gentiles dogs. St. Paul here, as in Mat_15:2, reverses the terms of the comparison; the legal privileges of the Jew nee but as crumbs thrown to dogs in comparison with the rich blessings of the gospel. Comp. also Mat_16:26, where our Lord uses the same verbs, to lose and to gain; the whole world is but loss, the Savior says, compared with the never-dying soul. The loss of one's all in this world (St. Paul echoes the sacred words) is as nothing; all things put together are but as dung, compared with the one thing which St. Paul so longed to gain, Christ himself—his presence in the soul, spiritual union with the Lord. "To gain Christ is to lay fast hold upon him, to receive him inwardly into our bosoms, and so to make him ours and ourselves his, that we may be joined to him as our Head, espoused to him as our Husband, incorporated into him as our Nourishment, engrafted in him as our Stock, and laid upon him as a sure Foundation" (Bishop Hall, ' Christ Mystical,' ch. 6., quoted by Bishop EIlicott).
Php_3:9
And be found in him; now, at the last day, always. In Christ; a member, that is, of his body, a living branch of the true Vine. Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the Law; rather, as R.V., not harding a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the Law. Not any righteousness of my own, such as that described in Php_3:6, the righteousness which consists in and results from conformity to an external law. But perhaps the words are best rendered, as in the margin of R.V., "Not having as my righteousness that which is of the Law." St. Paul was blameless as regards that righteousness which lies in legal observances: in that he puts no confidence, he seeks a better righteousness. But that which is through the faith of Christ; rather, as R.V., through faith in Christ. There is no article, and the genitive is objective. Through faith. God is the Giver, the Source of righteousness; it is given through faith as the means, on condition of faith. The righteousness which is of God by faith. Greek, "upon faith," based upon faith, or on condition of faith. St. Paul speaks of "having" this righteousness. Then it is his; yet it is not any righteousness of his own, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done;" but a righteousness of God given to him, merited, not by his works, but by the perfect obedience and the precious death of Christ, and granted unto all who are found in Christ. It comes from God, the one only Giver of all good things; it is obtained through faith as the instrument or means; and it is given on that faith—on condition, that is, of a living faith abiding in the soul. Thus St. Paul states incidentally, but simply and forcibly, the great doctrine of justification by faith.
Php_3:10
That I may know him ( τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτόν ). For the grammatical construction, see Winer, sect. 44:b. For the sense, comp. Joh_17:3, where Dr. Westcott notes, "In such a connection, Knowledge expresses the apprehension of the truth by the whole nature of man. It is not an acquaintance with facts as external, nor an intellectual conviction of their reality, but an appropriation of them (so to speak) as an influencing power into the very being of him who knows them." Γινώσκειν differs from εἰδέναι : εἰδέναι is "to know," γιγνώσκειν is "to recognize" or "to become acquainted with." We must be found in Christ in order to know him; we must have that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ, for we can know him only by being made like unto him. Comp. 1Jn_2:2, "When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is;" and now those who see him by faith are in their measure being transformed into the same image. For the knowledge here spoken of is a personal knowledge, gained, not by hearing or reading, but by direct personal communion with the Lord; it is not theoretical, but experimental. "non expertus fuerit, non intelligit" (Anselm, quoted by Meyer). And the power of his resurrection. The resurrection of Christ was a glorious manifestation of Divine power (Rom_1:4). That resurrection is now a power in the spiritual life of Christians: it stimulates the spiritual resurrection, the resurrection from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness (comp. Rom_6:4; Col_2:12). It is the center of our most cherished hopes, the evidence of our immortality, the earnest of the resurrection of the body. And the fellowship of his sufferings. This clause and the last are bound together under one article, according to the best manuscripts. There is a very close connection between them (comp. Rom_8:17; 2Ti_2:11, 2Ti_2:12). To know the quickening power of his resurrection, we must share his sufferings. The Christian, meditating in loving thought on the sufferings of Christ, is led to feel ever a deeper, a more awful sympathy with the suffering Savior. And if, when we are called to suffer, we take it patiently, looking unto Jesus, then our sufferings are united with his sufferings, "we suffer with him." And he who hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows feels for us in his sacred heart, being "touched with the feeling of our infirmities." This fellowship in suffering leads through his grace to fellowship in glory. Being made conformable unto his death; rather, as R.V., becoming conformed. The participle is present: it implies a continual progress. It is derived from the word μορφή , form, used in Php_2:6 (where see note), and denotes, not a mere external resemblance, but a deep, real, inner conformity. The reference is not to the impending death of martyrdom, but to that daffy dying unto self and the world which the apostle exhibited in the heroic self-denials of his holy life: he was "crucified with Christ" (Gal_2:20; comp. also 1Co_15:31).
Php_3:11
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. The apostle uses the language of humble expectation. For the particles, "if by any means" ( εἴ πως ), comp. Act_27:12; Rom_1:10; Rom_11:14. The verb "attain" means to arrive at the end of a journey; it presents the figure of a pilgrimage. Read, with R.V. and the best manuscripts, the resurrection from the dead. This phrase (used also in Luk_20:35 and Act_4:2) means the resurrection of the blessed dead. This meaning is strengthened here by the repetition of the preposition with the word "resurrection" ( ἐξανάστασις ). The general resurrection is always called the resurrection of the dead.
Php_3:12
Not as though I had already. attained, either were already perfect; the R.V. renders this clause more accurately, not that (I do not say that) I have already obtained. The verb is not the same with that translated "attain" in Php_3:11; it means to get, to win a prize, as in 1Co_9:24. The tense is aorist: "I say not that I did at once win the prize;" that is, at the time of his conversion. Compare the tenses used in 1Co_9:8, "I suffered the loss of all things;" and 1Co_9:12, "I was apprehended;" which both refer to the same time. The prize was gained in a moment; it needs the continued effort of a lifetime. St. Paul proceeds, using now the perfect tense, "Nor have I been already made perfect." He has not even now reached perfection; he is still working out his own salvation. There may be here a delicate allusion to the spiritual pride which seems to have disturbed the unity of the Philippians (see Php_2:2-4). But I follow after; rather, I pursue, I press on. If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. The words rendered "for which" ( ἐφ ᾧ ) will admit three different interpretations:
(1) that of A.V., which implies the ellipse of the antecedent "that;"
(2) that given in the margin of R.V., "seeing that;" and
(3) that of the R.V., "for which," for which purpose I was also apprehended by Christ Jesus.
All these translations are possible, and all give a good sense. Perhaps (2) best suits the context, "I press on to lay hold o[the prize, because Christ first laid hold of me." The grace of the Lord Jesus furnishes the highest motive; it is the Christian's bounden duty to press on always in the Christian race, because Christ first called him.
Php_3:13
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; rather, perhaps, I reckon. Two of the best manuscripts read "not yet" ( οὔπω ). The pronouns are emphatic: whatever others may think of me or of themselves, "I reckon not myself to have apprehended.'' But this one thing. The ellipse here is forcible; some supply "I reckon;" others, "I say;" others, as A.V., "I do," which seems best suited to the context. I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. St. Paul concentrates all his thoughts and all his energies on the one great end of life, the one thing needful. He forgets those things which are behind; that is, not, as some explain, his Jewish privileges and distinctions, but that part of his Christian race already past. So Chrysostom, Καὶ γὰρ ὁ δρομεὺς οὐχ ὅσους ἤνυσεν ἀναλογίζεται διαύλους ἀλλ ὅσους λείπεται … Τί γὰρ ἡμᾶς ὠφελεῖ τὸ ἀνυσθὲν ὅταν τὸ λειπόμενον μὴ προστεθῇ ; Reaching forth. The Greek word μὴ προστεθῇ ; is singularly emphatic: it means that the athlete throws himself forward in the race with all his energies strained to the very utmost. Compare Bengel, "Oculus manum, manus pedem praevertit et trahit."
Php_3:14
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus; rather, with the best manuscripts, unto the prize. The first preposition, "towards," expresses the aim; the second, "unto," the end of the race. The high calling; the upward, heavenward calling. God is calling us all upward, heavenward, by the voice of the Lord Jesus, who is the Word of God. Comp. Heb_2:1, "Partakers of the heavenly calling." The words, "in Christ Jesus," are to be taken with "the high calling." It is God who calls: he calls us in the person of Christ, by the voice of Christ, "Come unto me." "It was his will that thou shouldst run the race below; he gives the crown above. Seest thou not that even here they crown the most honored of the athletes, not on the racecourse below, but the king calls them up, and crowns them there" (Chrysostom).
Php_3:15
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded. "Perfect" here means mature, full grown, as opposed to babes or children. The word is so used (in the Greek) in 1Co_14:20; Eph_4:13; Heb_5:14. "There is a difference," says Bengel, on Heb_5:12, "between the perfect and the perfected: the first are ready for the. race; the last are close upon the prize." St. Paul exhorts all full-grown Christians to imitate his perseverance; like him, to forsake any claims to legal righteousness; to seek that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ; to know Christ, to win Christ; to press ever forwards to obtain the prize. And if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.. If only we be in earnest, pressing onwards in the Christian race with sustained perseverance, God will, by the manifestation of his Spirit in our heart, correct any minor errors of doctrine or of practice. Comp. Joh_7:17, "If any man willeth to do ( θέλῃ ποιεῖν ) his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." "Otherwise" ( ἑτέρως ) seems here to mean otherwise thin is right, wrongly, amiss—a meaning which it has not unfrequently in classical Greek, and in our word "heterodox." Even this; rather, this too, as well as the one thing needful, the knowledge of Christ, which he has already revealed. Mark the word "reveal." Paul may teach, but living spiritual knowledge is a revelation from God. This passage shows that the word "perfect" is used here in a restricted sense, not of consummated holiness; as it implies that some of the "perfect" may be "otherwise minded," may be involved in minor errors. Good Christians must have that righteousness which is through faith; they must persevere: they may err in less essential points. It is a lesson of charity and humility.
Php_3:16
Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Omit, with the best manuscripts, the words from "rule" to "thing," and translate, R.V., only, whereunto we have already attained, by that same (rule) let us walk; or, more literally, only, what we arrived at, by that same walk. Let there be no falling back; let us, at each point in our Christian course, maintain and walk according to that degree of grace at which we arrived. This explanation seems more probable than the other view, which understands the words, "by the same," of the rule of faith as opposed to the works of the Law.
Php_3:17
Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample; rather, as R.V., imitators together. They are to unite, one and all, in imitating him. In 1Co_11:1 he gives the ground of this advice, "As I also am of Christ." Mark, here in order to imitate; elsewhere (as Rom_16:17) in order to avoid. He changes the singular number to the plural, modestly shrinking from proposing himself alone as their example. But "ensample" is still singular, because they all (Timothy, Epaphroditus, etc.) present the same image, all imitating Christ. Observe the change of metaphor: hitherto the Christian life has been compared to a race; now he speaks of walking; literally, walking about ( περιπατεῖν ), moving hither and thither in the daily path of life.
Php_3:18
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ; rather, I used to tell you; the tense is imperfect. He used to speak thus of them when he was at Philippi; now, during his absence, the evil has increased, and he repeats his warning with tears. "Paul weeps," says Chrysostom, "for those at whom others laugh; so true is his sympathy, so deep his care for all men." He seems to be speaking here, not of the Jews, but of nominal Christians, who used their liberty for a cloke of licentiousness. Such are enemies of the cross; they hate sell-denial, they will not take up their cross. By their evil lives they bring shame upon the religion of the cross.
Php_3:19
Whose end is destruction; rather, as R.V., perdition. Observe the contrast: not the prize of the high calling, but everlasting death. Whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame (comp. Rom_16:18). They boast of their liberty, and pervert it into licence' (2Pe_2:19). Who mind earthly things; rather, they who mind. The irregularity of the construction (he returns to the nominative) seems expressive of the apostle's indignation.
Php_3:20
For our conversation is in heaven. The word "our" is emphatic; the apostle refers back to Php_3:17 : "Follow us, not those enemies of the cross; our conversation is in heaven; they mind earthly things." The A.V. has this same word "conversation" in Php_1:27, where the Greek ( πολιτεύεσθε ) is the verb corresponding with the noun ( πολιτεῦΜα ) which occurs here. The verb is used in the sense of a certain mode of life or conversation, as in Act_23:1, but it does not appear that the noun ever bears that meaning. The rendering" citizenship" also seems deficient in authority. In classical Greek the word has three meanings:
(1) a form of government;
(2) political acts, politics;
(3) a commonwealth.
The last seems the most suitable here. The unworthy Christians mentioned in the last verse mind earthly things; but our city, our country, our home, is in heaven: there is the state of which we are citizens; there is the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, whoso names are inscribed in the roll of the citizens of the heavenly city. Our real home is there now ( ὑπάρχει ); comp. Eph_2:19, "Ye are no longer strangers and foreigners, but ye are fellow-citizens of the saints" (comp. also Heb_11:10, Heb_11:16 and Heb_13:14; Gal_4:26). From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; rather, we eagerly wait for (comp. Rom_8:23, Rom_8:25; Gal_5:5) the Lord Jesus Christ as a Savior; comp. Isa_25:9, "This is the Lord; we have waited for him; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation."
Php_3:21
Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body; rather, as R.V., who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory. Compare the description of our Lord's person and work in Php_2:6-8. There St. Paul tells us that he who was originally in the form of God took upon him the form of a servant, and was found in fashion as a man. Here he uses the derivatives of the same words "form" and "fashion" ( μορδή and σχῆμα ), to describe the change of the bodies of the saved at the resurrection. He had already told us (Php_2:10) that the Christian soul is being gradually conformed during life unto the death of Christ. He now tells us that this conformity of the Christian unto Christ is ultimately to extend to the body. The Lord shall change the outward fashion of our body; but this change will be more than a change of outward fashion: it will result in a real conformity of the resurrection-body of the believer unto the glorious body of the Lord. The body of our humiliation; not "vile body." St. Paul does not despise the body, like the Stoics and Gnostics; the Christian's body is a sacred thing—it is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and the seed of the resurrection-body. According to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. According to the working, the energy, of his power not only to change and glorify the bodies of the redeemed, but also to subdue all things, the whole universe, unto himself. "The apostle shows," says Chrysostom, "greater works of the Savior's power, that thou mightest believe in these."
1. It is in the Lord. "Rejoice in the Lord," the apostle says. The Lord, who once gave himself for us, gives himself to us now. "Behold," he says, "I stand at the door, and knock." If we listen to his voice, and open the door of our heart, he is ready to enter, to bless us with his sacred presence, to abide with us for ever. In his presence there is fullness of joy. We can know it only by experience.
"The love of Jesus, what it is,
None but his loved ones know."
The unspeakable Gift, the gift of Christ, is a gift of abiding joy.
2. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is the pledged possession of all true Christians; and "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace." "The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." Then holy joy is an evidence of the indwelling of the Spirit; it shows that he is with the saints of God.
3. It is earnest of our inheritance; for it springs from the inworking of the Holy Spirit of promise. It is a foretaste of the joy of the Lord, which is reserved for the good and faithful servant. It is of all forms of joy the truest, deepest, most abiding; for it depends on no external cause, it is not much affected by the chances and changes of this mortal life. It supports the true Christian in trouble, in sickness, in the prospect of death. For it is in the Lord, resting on him, depending on his presence, flowing from communion with him.
II. THE CHRISTIAN'S DUTY.
1. Because it is commanded. "Rejoice evermore," is equally binding with the parallel commandment, "Pray without ceasing." In this Epistle especially the apostle reiterates again and again with ever-increasing earnestness the exhortation to rejoice. "Rejoice in the Lord alway; again I will say, Rejoice."
2. Because it is enforced by the example of the saints. "Sorrowing, yet always rejoicing," is the motto of the Christian life. St. Paul with Silas in the dungeon at Philippi sang praises unto God. Now a prisoner at Rome, he could say, "I joy, and rejoice with you all." He was in bonds, encompassed with many hardships and afflictions, in daily danger of a violent death. But his soul was raised above his outward troubles by the blessed presence of the Lord within him. His heart was glad; the crown of righteousness laid up in heaven for all who love the appearing of the Lord was ever before his thoughts; he could rejoice himself; he could bid others rejoice with him. It is indeed a great example of the power of faith, an illustration of the Savior's words, "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, and believe in me."
3. Because to be gloomy and melancholy implies a want of gratitude. The Christian who knows that his Redeemer liveth, that Christ the Son of God died for his sins and rose again for his justification, that he is even now interceding for him in heaven, ought to be bright and cheerful. He has no right to give way to despondent thoughts. The temptation will come sometimes; but it is a matter of duty to struggle against it; for to yield is to dishonor the Lord. "Count it all joy," says St. James, "when ye fall into divers temptations."
III. To BE ENFORCED BY CONSTANT EXHORTATION.
1. The gospel is ever fresh, ever new. "It is not irksome to write the same things, says St. Paul." The Christian is never tired of repeating, never tired of hearing, the blessed story of the love of Jesus. The Athenians "spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing." The Christian is content with the old, old story—the holy life, the blessed death, of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is sometimes the preacher's temptation to strain after novelty; he should seek simply to save souls.
2. It is hard to rejoice evermore; it is a duty to be frequently pressed. To rejoice in sickness, in distress, in times of anxiety, is very hard; but it is our duty; we must enforce it constantly upon ourselves, upon others. And it is a source of safety; the soul that is learning to rejoice in the Lord, to take delight in communion with him in prayer and praise and holy sacrament, is not easily separated from the love of Christ.
IV. CONTRASTS BETWEEN THE TRUE CHRISTIANS AND THE JUDAIZERS.
1. These last rejoice, not in the Lord, but in outward distinctions. They pride themselves on their circumcision, but it is merely outward, in the flesh. They may be clean ceremonially, but they are unclean in heart; for they are workers of evil.
2. The Christian has the true circumcision and the true worship. The true circumcision is "that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter." The true worship, too, is in the highest sense not that of form and ceremony, but inward and spiritual. The Christian worships by the Spirit of God, by his help, by his teaching, by his inspiration; all true prayer is prayer in the Holy Ghost.
3. The Christian glories only in Christ. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Christian glories in the Savior's love, in the atonement wrought by his most precious blood, in his prevailing intercession, in the hope of seeing him face to face in his kingdom. In him is his confidence, not in any outward rite.
Lessons.
1. Pray for the great gift of holy joy: "Ask, and ye shall have."
2. To win that joy we must renounce confidence in the flesh.
3. We must worship by the Spirit of God, with real heart-worship, and that by the help of God the Holy Ghost.
Php_3:4-11
1. He enumerates the privileges of the Jew, and claims them as his own. He had the seal of circumcision, the inheritance of the covenant; he was brought up in the Hebrew learning; he belonged to the strictest sect; he was zealous; he had lived a blameless life. In outward grounds of confidence no man could surpass him. He had all the privileges that could issue from the Judaism of the time.
2. He renounces them all. He sums them up together and renounces them; more than that, he counts them as loss; further yet, he counts all things as loss in comparison with the one gracious presence, the one glorious hope which now fills his heart.
II. WHAT HE SOUGHT.
1. The knowledge of Christ. This knowledge is:
(1) A personal knowledge. "Mine own know me," says our Lord, in Joh_10:14, Revised Version, "as I know the Father." The knowledge wherewith the true sheep know the good Shepherd is compared by our Lord himself to the knowledge with which the Son of God knows the eternal Father. It is a knowledge of love, a knowledge of intimate personal communion. It is less in the intellect than in the heart; it is gained not so much by study, as by prayer and holy sacrament and the daily effort of faith to realize the Savior's nearness and to imitate his holy life.
(2) It is excellent. St. Paul can scarcely find words to express its excellency. Compared with this, all other things sink into insignificance; what was gain becomes loss; what was glory becomes shame. For this knowledge implies the presence of Christ, "Christ in you, the Hope of glory."
(3) Thus the Christian who knows Christ, wins Christ to be his own, his own most loving Savior, his own most gracious Friend; his very life, for "he that hath the Son hath life? And
(4) he is found-in Christ, incorporated into him, a living member of his mystical body, a fruitful branch of the true Vine.
2. The righteousness which is through the faith of Christ. They that are found in Christ have his righteousness. "Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1Co_1:30). They have none of their own (that is, through their own works), for the righteousness which is in the Law is no true righteousness, and cannot endure the all-seeing eye of God. "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." This righteousness is of God, not ours; and yet in some sense it is ours, for it is given to us, given in the gift of Christ. "He that spared not his own Son,… how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" This righteousness is through faith; obtained (that is) through faith as the means or instrument; and it is by (or rather, upon) faith, given (that is) on condition of faith. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," was the message delivered by St. Paul in this very Philippi. "Only believe." Faith is spiritual sight; by faith the saints in all ages have endured, "as seeing him who is invisible." Faith is the spiritual vision of Christ; by faith we see him dying for us upon the cross; we see Christ crucified, and recognize him as our own Savior and Redeemer. Again, faith is the "substance ['the assurance,' Revised Version] of things hoped for;" it is trustfulness—trustfulness, in the love and promises of Christ. It involves distrust of self, and trust only in Christ. Ever less of self, ever more of Christ, is the law of spiritual progress. Faith is the condition of righteousness.
III. THE RESULT OF THIS SELF-RENUNCIATION. The ever-deepening knowledge of Christ. St. Paul prays to be found in Christ, that he may know him. This knowledge, which he seeks so earnestly, is an experimental knowledge; it is an ever-increasing acquaintance with Christ, a realization of the life of Christ in his sufferings and in his exaltation. We need to know:
1. The power of his resurrection. The resurrection of Christ is a spiritual power; it hath a power to lift us up into the resurrection-life, the new life that is hid with Christ in God. The soul that was raised with Christ seeks those things which are above, and that through the power of the Lord's resurrection realized in the heart. His resurrection, too, is the pledge and earnest of our own resurrection, and so kindles and stimulates self-denying Christian effort.
2. To know the power of his resurrection we must know the fellowship of his sufferings. The Christian life has joys of its own; it has also sufferings of its own. For:
(1) Besides the deep sorrow of contrition, the Christian sorrows for the griefs of others, for the sins of others, for the oppression and afflictions of the Church. And these sufferings are the sufferings of Christ; he suffers in and with his members. Hence the apostle says (Col_1:24). "I fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the Church."
(2) We have fellowship with Christ's sufferings when we sympathize with his agony, with his cross; when, by the energy of faith we realize the Savior's sufferings, and, knowing that our sins added to his burden of woe, feel with him and for him.
(3) We share his sufferings when, suffering ourselves, we offer our sufferings to God by an act of faith; when, fixing our hearts upon the sufferings of Christ, we unite our sufferings with his by faith and prayer, casting all our care on him. Thus he bears our griefs and carries our sorrows; he suffers with us and we with him.
(4) Thus we become, little by little, conformed unto his death. The intense contemplation of the suffering Lord gradually impresses the likeness of his death upon the believing soul. That likeness is not outward and transient, but inward, deep, real. It is formed gradually; it varies in degree in different individuals or in the different stages of the Christian life; but in all true Christians it is real. It is a mortifying, a crucifixion of the old man; like the Savior's death upon the cross, slow and painful. But at last the believing soul struggles itself free from the body of sin and death into the new life, the life which is hid with Christ in God.
IV. THE BLESSED END.
1. The resurrection of the holy dead. That resurrection is the end of all our labors here; the end for which the Christian is content to count all earthly things as loss.
2. The spiritual resurrection here is the earnest of the glorious resurrection hereafter. The heavenly life begins here; the life of faith is the beginning of the life of glory. Both consist in union with Christ, who is our Life; both derive their joy and brightness only from his irradiating presence. They differ in degree, not in kind. The life of faith, when all present hindrances are removed, advanced, as it will be, to unspeakably higher degrees of purity and joy and fellowship with Christ, culminates in the life of glory. Hence it is that the excellency of the knowledge of Christ issues in the blessed resurrection of the holy dead.
Lessons.
1. St. Paul broke wholly with his unconverted life; so must we.
2. He experienced a complete change of thought, motive, aim; it must be so with us.
3. It was the constraining love of Christ that drew him from his old life; it is so still.
4. He suffered with Christ, he felt the power of his resurrection; so may it be with us.
Php_3:12-16
1. The most advanced Christian is always the humblest. The nearer we draw to Christ, the more we feel our own unworthiness. The light of Christ's holiness, manifested in the hearts of his saints, brings out into clearer light the exceeding sinfulness of sin.
2. But he is striving after perfection. The Christian knows his own weakness and sin, but he knows also that he is really following Christ. If we are doing so, we must know it; we must be conscious of real effort in the spiritual life.
3. Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith. Christ first laid hold of St. Paul, therefore St. Paul strives to lay hold upon Christ; because he was apprehended, he hopes to apprehend. "We love him, because he first loved us."
4. This very sense of imperfection urges the Christian to sustained effort. He is never satisfied with himself, therefore he always presses onwards. He does not dwell with complacency on his attainments, but forgets the progress which he has made; in view of the far greater height which remains to scale, he throws himself into the work with ever-increasing energy.
5. Therefore he presses toward the mark. The crown of righteousness is laid up for all who love the appearing of the Lord. God is calling us thither, calling us upward, to higher degrees of the spiritual life now, to the perfection of that life in heaven. The prize of that upward calling is the heavenly glory. It is the end for which the Christian lives, which makes life worth having, worth living.
II. ALL ADVANCED CHRISTIANS MUST BE THUS MINDED.
1. The love of Christ, faith, humility, are essentials. All Christians alike must set the knowledge of Christ high above all other objects of desire. All must seek that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ; all must strive to win Christ, to be found in Christ, to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. All must be humble, dissatisfied with themselves; all must press onwards towards ever higher degrees of the spiritual life.
2. In this all must agree; in smaller matters there may be differences. St. Paul seems to imply that there will be differences. "If in anything ye be otherwise minded," he says; otherwise than is right, he seems to mean. There will be, there must be, errors. Men cannot all see alike. There are various degrees of illumination, of spiritual knowledge. And men are differently constituted; their characters, theft' early training, their education, their surroundings, their associations, differ indefinitely; all these circumstances act upon their habits of thought. Their opinions are the ultimate outcome of all these multitudinous influences. Doubtless we are to a large extent responsible for our opinions. It is our bounden duty to search the Scriptures, to think, to meditate, to pray for the guidance of God's Holy Spirit. He will guide us into all truth (all that is necessary for our salvation), if we seek his help with a single heart, in earnestness, and in humility. But he does not force all good men to think alike; he leaves room for the play of the individual character, for the manifold influences of temperament and training. The truth is one, the faith is one; but we look upon that one truth from various points of view. Hence there will be differences even among those who sincerely seek the truth. Truth is of momentous importance. Truth of doctrine and holiness of life together make up the saintly character; imperfections in either so far mar the beauty of the whole. But if the two cannot always coexist, holiness is far closer than doctrine to our soul's salvation. The good Samaritan was nearer to God than the priest or the Levite; though they were orthodox, while he was a schismatic.
3. But the promise is that to those who sincerely seek the truth God will certainly reveal it. Only let a man be like St. Paul in his humility and earnest perseverance, never satisfied with himself, never counting himself to have attained, but always pressing towards the mark, and God will reveal the truth to him, as he revealed it to St. Paul. Thus we learn that holy obedience is a condition of living spiritual knowledge, and that living spiritual knowledge is a gift of God. The letter of the Scripture is a subject for intellectual study, but the inner truth of the Scriptures, the knowledge of Christ, is a revelation from God. God hath hidden this from the wise and prudent, but he revealeth it to babes. God the Holy Ghost is the one only Teacher of this precious knowledge.
III. THERE MUST BE NO BACKSLIDING, NO LOSS OF SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE ONCE obtained. It must be our most earnest effort to maintain that degree of grace at which we have arrived, Mark how the apostle dwells on the necessity of perseverance. The life of very many professing Christians is a series of oscillations between permitted sin and feeble repentance. Hence there is no real progress; they remain year after year much as they have been—decent in their lives, and well-intentioned perhaps, but without any real growth in holiness, in self-denial, in humility. "The path of the just is as the shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day." This ought to be the record of our lives; but this implies continual perseverance, and perseverance implies constant watchfulness and constant prayer.
Lessons. Learn from St. Paul's example:
1. Utterly to shrink from spiritual pride; it is a deadly poison; it makes men satisfied with their present attainments; it prevents their progress in holiness; it leads to backsliding.
2. Always to persevere.
3. To keep the prize of the high calling before the thoughts.
4. Not to judge harshly those who differ from us.
5. To pray for a fuller revelation of the truth to our souls.
Php_3:17-19
II. THE CHRISTIAN MUST MARK THE SAINTS OF GOD.
1. Their example is precious, full of gracious attraction. A true Christian, wherever he is, in whatever circumstances, is of inestimable value. Having himself received grace from God, he becomes a center of grace for others; rivers of living water flow from him.
2. Such examples increase our responsibility. St. Paul bids us mark them. If we do not, we neglect one of the greatest helps to a holy life which God provides for us. To read the lives of holy men, still more, if we have that great privilege, to know them, ought to excite in us a holy ardor and ambition. They are men like ourselves, encompassed with infirmities; they have by the grace of God attained a high degree of holiness; we may do the like if we persevere as they persevered. We must be followers together of such men; we must try to reach the holiness which they have gained; their humility, their self-denials, their charity, their holy joy, their delight in prayer and praise, ought to stir us up to a holy emulation. Such examples, if followed, are an unspeakable advantage; if neglected, they must greatly increase our danger and our condemnation.
3. Christ's saints are many; their example is one. Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, reflect in various degrees the one image of Christ. All Christians, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory. Their characters, their training, their opportunities, differ; they present some one grace, some another, more conspicuously than others; these different graces are so many different aspects of the one image of Christ. We may study these various graces severally as mixed with human frailty in the characters of saints; we may study them all combined in absolute perfection in the life of our Divine Savior.
III. BUT THERE ARE EVIL EXAMPLES IS THE CHURCH.
1. Many who are called by the Name of Christ wind earthly things. They will not take up their cross and deny themselves; they serve their own lusts. Such men are really enemies of the cross of Christ; they hate the cross, they shrink from the cross, and they grievously check the progress of the gospel. The Name of God is blasphemed through them. The end of such men is destruction.
2. Such evil lives cause real grief to the true Christian. St. Paul weeps when he speaks of them. Fools make a mock at sin; the apostle weeps. He knows the meaning of sin, its exceeding sinfulness, its awful danger. miserable thing to see men laugh at drunkenness or other forms of vice; these things kill the souls of men, souls for whom Christ died. The apostle reminds us of the psalmist, "Rivers of water run down mine eyes because men keep not thy Law."
Lessons. Learn:
1. To study the lives of holy men, to imitate their graces, to avoid their errors; their history is written for our admonition.
2. Above all, to study the one perfect Example, the life of Jesus Christ our Lord.
3. To set a good example ourselves, remembering the great influence of example for good or for evil.
4. shun evil examples, to mourn over them.
Php_3:20, Php_3:21
1. Our commonwealth is in heaven; we are citizens of the heavenly country. Here we are citizens of this realm of England; we have our sovereign, our magistrates, our fellow-subjects, our duties, our privileges. It is a shadow of heavenly things. The heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, is our true home, our continuing city. The almighty God, King of kings and Lord of lords, is the center of that vast communion. The blessed angels, our guardians, are his ministers, standing before him, to do his will. The saints, living and departed, are our fellow-citizens, the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn who are written in heaven, and the spirits just men made perfect. There we have our privileges, the sacraments, the means of grace, the help of the Holy Spirit of God, the hope of everlasting blessedness. There we have our duties, all growing from the one highest law of love: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart;… thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
2. Our real home is there now ( ὑπάρχει ). We are citizens of the heavenly commonwealth first, then of our earthly country. We are Christians first, then Englishman. The first given at Antioch is cur highest title; it pledges us to unity, to holiness; pledges us to the service of the great Master, whose love passeth knowledge, whose life stands alone in its gracious beauty, in its perfect purity. Our home is in heaven, where he is; it is so new. "Ye are come to the city of the living God;" "Ye are fellow-citizens of the saints." Therefore "seek those things which are above." There must our treasure be, there must we set our hearts. We should try by God's grace to fill our minds with the blessed thought of heaven, to accustom ourselves to meditate daily upon its occupations, its never-ending worship, its unclouded contemplation of the Divine beauty. For there we hope to spend the ages of the everlasting life. will be, we trust, our last, our unspeakably most glorious prize; let us try to fill our thoughts and imaginations with it now, not with the poor prizes of earthly success. Thus let us seek to realize those striking words, "Our commonwealth is in heaven."
II. CHRIST IS IN HEAVEN NOW; WE WAIT FOR HIS COMING.
1. We are citizens of the heavenly country now; we have not yet its full privileges; we are heirs of the kingdom of heaven. But Christ is there now; he will come again as a Savior. Then he wilt make us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. For flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; we must be changed. He is changing our souls now (if we abide in him) by the power of his grace. Then he shall change our body, this body of our humiliation, the body which is now subject to disease and death, and sometimes, alas! to the defilement of sensual sin. He shall make it like, in true and deep resemblance, to the body of his glory. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory."
2. For he is able to subdue all things unto himself. All power is given unto him in heaven and in earth. Therefore we may not doubt his power. He can raise these bodies of ours from the dust of the ea